Brake beam



March 12 1940. c R suscl-l 2,193,580

BRAKE BEAM Filed Dec. 21', 1957 s Sheets-Sheet 1- INVENTOR ATTORNEYMarch 12, 1940.

c. BuscH BRAKE BEAM Filed Dec. 21, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I INVENTOR[jar/2.5 I A? zfi z/mr,

ATTORNEY -March 12, 1940.

c. R. BU'SCH V RAKE BEAM Filed Dec. 21, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet .3

' INVENTOR 6%0/f/85 2 34/862 ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 12,- 1940 UNITEDSTATES" BRAKE BEAM Charles R. Busch, Orange, N. 1., asslgnor to ButfaloBrake Beam Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New YorkApplication December 21. 1937, Serial No. 180,962

22 Claims.

The present invention relates more or. .less to improvements over thedisclosures in my previous applications Serial No. 130,881, filed March15, 1927, and Serial No. 134,792, flled April 3, 1937, but moreparticularly over what is speciflcally disclosed in the last namedapplication. Said application Serial No. 134,792 discloses a novel brakebeam and a method of making brake beams by which method a blank ofrolled steel is slit longitudinally between the end portions which endportions are desirably shaped preferably for enabling the beam to beguided along the side frames of a car truck, and the slitting of theblank is done for enabling a compression member and a tension member,respectively, to be formed from the slit blank.

The invention constituting the subject matter of the instant applicationdeparts more or less radically from the said prior disclosures, theprincipal difference being to provide a brake beam wherein the greatestdepth of the tension memher is preferably located along its mid-lengthso as to have substantially the same depth as the thicker portion of thecompression member, and so as to provide a broad surface for the saddleof the brake beam strut.

Another object of the invention is to provide suitable means fortransversely widening the.

wear pieces or caps at each end of a brake beam, as by lateral noses orextensions therefrom, which aid in balancing the beam if that isnecessary when it is guided on lateral guides of car truck side frames,by tending to maintain the beam in its desired plane of operation byreducing or substantially eliminating the tendency of the beam to tiltwith respect to its breadth.

Other objects of the present invention are to provide a brake beam oftruss design which is very strong and durable in service as tests havedemonstrated, and to provide an improved method of making brake beams-The above being among the objects of the present invention, thesameconsists of certain features of construction and combinations of partsto be hereinafter described and then claimed with reference to theaccompanying Fig. '7 is a plan of the completed brake beam, the strutand brake shoe heads being shown in broken lines; I

Fig. 8 is a front edge view of Fig. 7;

f Fig. 9 is an end elevation;

piece of Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a diagrammatic view showing a step in providing for a slitthrough the blank;

Fig. 14 is a diagrammatic side elevation showing the blank in process ofbeing slit; and

Fig. 15 is a detail view of cutters and showing the blank in section andbeing slit.

Inasmuch as the ends of the parts which are shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4indicate how. the other ends should be made, such other ends are notshown, but the parts are broken away lengthwise.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6 a metallic blank 20 for a brakebeam is shown and the same is preferably made of rolled steel inaccordance with the specifications of the A. R. A., although it will beobvious herefrom that the same may be made from cast or forged steel,but rolled steel is-preferable inasmuch as the blanks may be out from along bar during a continuous pass through the rolls. The blank 20 ispreferably of T-shape in cross-section, in which case it will havevertical flanges 2| formed from the I at any other desirable stage inthe course of preparation of the complete beam. Each such end portion 23as shown will have the same thickness as that of the flange 22.

To facilitate the step of longitudinally slitting the blank, grooves orchannels 24 are fo'rmed in opposite surfaces of the flange 22 alongopposite lines and preferably along lines about mid-way of the entirewidth of the blank 20. These grooves or channels may not be necessary,but

are preferred in order to tend to hold the operating edges of thecutters in alignment, thus providing for a clean shearing or cuttingaction and thus separating the front portion and the back portion of theblank in between the end portions 23.

Referring now to Figs. 13, 14 and 15 suitable means are illustrated forobtaining the slit when the blank 20 is placed on the machine bed andheld in place by suitable holding dies and these caused to advancetowards the cutters, in a similar fashion to a planer or millingmachine, the cutters preferably remaining in a stationary location. Thecutter wheels 25, 26 are to be positioned in stationary bearings andeach may be of a composite construction which is well known, that is, acircular or disk shaped wheel consisting of a sharp knife edged andproperly tempered steel cutter clamped between fixing disks or plates atopposite sides. The cutter 25 will have a skip-gap 25a in its cuttingedge and the cutter 26 will have a similar gap 26a. The cutters are sotimed as to cause the gaps 25a and 26a to exactly register with eachother during each revolution thereof, and hence the cutting edges of thecutters will register exactly with each other from the time the cut orslit begins up to the time of its completion.

Referring to Fig. 13, a brake beam blank 20 is shown with one end 23introduced through the throat A, so that such end or flat portion 23 isgripped between the unsharpened curved surfaces of the cutters which areat opposite sides of the blank. The flanges 2| of the blank of courseare not in alignment with the cutters 25, 2B. Inasmuch as the cutters25. 26 are positively driven in the direction of the arrows, the leadingends of the cutting edges will begin to cut into the blank as indicatedin full lines at B, Fig. 14, the blank having been slightly movedforward as indicated by the arrow thereon. In this position the endextension or portion 23 of the blank will be opposite the skip gaps 25a,26a. When the cutting edges have reached the position C indicated inbroken lines, a corresponding length of the blank will have been slitand the same moved from the full line position to the position D shownin broken lines. The broken lines E on the two cutters show how far theskip gaps have been moved when the blank has been advanced to theposition D. It will be understood that the slitting of the blank will bethus continued until the receding ends of the cutting edges have come toabout'the vertical center line of the cutters.

In Fig. 6 there is illustrated a cross-section of the thus processedblank showing the slit 21 therein, such slit separating the blankbetween the uncut end portions into preliminary compression and tensionmembers 26. 29, respectively, shown in an advanced stage in Fig. 3.

The preliminary compression member will also be T-shaped incross-section and have vertical flanges 30 lying in the same plane and ahorizontal front flange 3|. The longitudinally slit blank is now placedin an upsetting apparatus and the members 28 and 29 confined to amovement which corresponds substantially with the shape of the ultimatebrake beam. The plungers of the upsetting machine are then caused toforce the terminals or end portions 23 of the blank towards each other,with the result that the compression member is condensed and shortenedand the tension member is expanded into the approximate form shown inFig. 3. At this stage the compression member may remain substantiallystraight or it may be allowed to assume more or less of a camber.

Again referring to Fig. 3, the partly formed brake beam is now placed ina suitable jig or other apparatus and the jaws or claws of ahandoperated lever or crow-bar are engaged over the mid-length of thepartly formed tension member 29 and power is then applied so as to causethe 'jaws or claws to act upon the member 29 so as-to forcibly twist thesaid member lengthwise. This may be done preferably by a machine whichapplies power to a suitable jaw or claw adapted to twist the member 29.The result is that the middle portion 33 of the member 29 is forced fromthe position shown in Fig. 3 and through an angle of ninety degrees tothe position shown in Fig. 4. Then the tension member will have itsmaximum depth at its midlength and be substantially of the same depth asthe greatest depth of the compression member, thus forming a broadsurface at the midlength of the tension member for receiving the saddleof a brake beam strut. By so'forming the tension member of the brakebeam, the same will have its" greatest depth where desirable strengthand rigidity is imparted to the ultimate brake beam.

Referring to Figs. '7, 8 and 9 the complete brake beam is illustrated.In a complete beam a strut 94, illustrated in broken lines, is insertedbetween the compression member 28 and the tension member 29 andconsiderable force is used to move it into that position, with theresult that when the strut is engaged with the middle portion of thetension member it forces the compression member 28 to the desiredcamber. As before stated the compression member might be cambered beforethe strut 34 is applied, but if there be left a silght departure fromthe shape thereof shown in Fig. 3 relative to the final strut appliedposition. the strut will force the compression member to the desiredcamber and be firmly held across the mid-length of the brake beam. Itwill be seen that the tension and compression members are connectedtogether as a unit and that the tension member becomes gradually smallerfrom its middle portion towards the uniting terminals 29 as viewedtowards the front face of the tension member. Also, as shown, theterminals or end portions, such as 23, will have a depth approximatingthat of the longitudinal horizontal portion of the compression member.

It is apparent that the end portions 23 which sion members integrallyare preferably formed flat and parallel along and. throughout theirupper and lower surfaces, that is, each end portion is preferably agiven thickness throughout. Such surfaces are continued inwardly in thesame manner along each end of the tension member, as clear from Figs. 4and 7, for a distance somewhat greater than the width of the brake headwhich is to be ultimately positioned on the flattened end portion, whichdistance terminates at the start of the twist in the tension member.Hence the united terminals of the compression and tension member, andwhich are formed by such flattened end portions 23, preferably are ofthe same thickness as the adjacent ends of the tension member. It willfurthermore be noted that because of such construction the preferablytwisted tension member is positioned directly in advance of thecompression member, with its ends lying in the same plane as the endportions 23 and as the longitudinal flange 3| of the compression member.Such disposition, arrangement and construction requires that the narrowgroove 24, preformed in the original blank, extend along a linesubstantially bisecting the width of the flat end portions 23.

Brake shoe heads 36, 96 may be then rigidly secured to the end portionsor terminals 23, which arcane erably these arcs are struck frorn a pointinter-.

sected by the longitudinal axis of the brake beam.

The wear pieces provide wear surfaces at the extreme terminals of thebeam and at the top and bottom of the beam, or rather at the terminalsof the end portions 23 and the upper and lower surfaces thereof, for thepreferred reason that the ends of the beam are to be guided upon theside frames of a car truck as disclosed in aforesaid application SerialNo. 134,792. Wear pieces at the extreme ends of the beam will take upany wear due to end thrust of the beam in either direction, while thewear surfaces 38, more particularly at the bottom of the beam, will"take up wear vertically of the beam.

Brake heads 35, 36 are preferably provided with jaws such as disclosedin the aforesaid application for patent which jaws are engaged over. the

end portions 23, and over the wear pieces if such are provided, so as toposition the brake heads inwardly of the end portions 23 and close tothe tension and compression members of the beam.

When such brake heads are employed it is possible to disengage the sameby moving them inwardly along the adjacent ends of the tension member29. Preferably also the rivet holes 39 at each end of the beam are instaggered relation so that the rivets employed to rigidly secure thebrake heads in position will also be staggered.

By forming and constructing the end portions 23 substantially as shownand described, agreat advantage is inherent in the brake beam,especially when the terminals thereof are guided upon truck side frames.In-such case it may be impossible to place brake heads upon or removethem from the ends of the beam. However, it is possible for a workman toplace them in position on the beam herein, without removing it from thetruck, by reaching in through an opening in the side frame and engagingthe jaw of a brake head with an untwisted end of the tension member andsliding the jaw outwardly to the flattened end portion, and thenifnecessary pushing the brake head toward the opposite side of the beamwhen the jaw is in engagement with the end portion 23. As the brake headthen will have-cleared the flange of the adjacent car truck wheel, abrake shoe may be secured upon the brake head in its braking position.To remove a brake head it is but necessary to first remove the brakeshoe and then push the brake head inwardly along and off of the endportion 23 onto the adjacent untwisted end of the tension memher, itbeing guided therealong by its jaw sliding upon the tension member. Whenin proper position clear of the car wheel the brake head may thenbepulled ofi'from the tension member. Now referring'to Figs. 11 and 12, amodification is illustrated with respect to the end portions of the beam40, only one end portion being shown in Fig. 11 as the opposite endwould correspond therewith. Upon each end of the beam there may besecured an end piece 4| along the lines of what is disclosed in Fig. 12,such end piece is-preferably of wear material such as a body of metal toreceive each endofthebeam, so as to withstand wear at the ends of thebeam in the event that such ends are guided upon the side frames of acar truck as disclosed in my application Serial No. 130,881. Each piece4| is preferably in the form of a cap or thimble forming a,

socket to flt-on an end of the beam, and prefer* ably comprises opposingspaced portions42, 43

connected at their outer ends by an end wall 44.

The opposing walls or portions 42, 43, of the cap, shoe or the like havesubstantially flat and parallel upper and lower surfaces, and are spacedapart a distance corresponding with the thickness of the extended endportion of the beam to provide an opening to receive the end of thebeam, so that when the wear piece is forced onto the end portion 4! itmay be held in the desired location previous to the rigid'attachmentthereof to the beam. The wall 44 at the terminal of the beam preferablyis arcuate in the direction of the plane of the beam, and the arcs ofthe end pieces at both ends of the beam are preferably lengths of acircle which is described from points between such arcs and between thefront and,

back of the beam.

Preferably the walls 42, 43 of the wear pieces extend inwardly to pointsclosely adjacent tothe compression and tension members of the beam 40.Each brake head shown in broken lines in.

Fig. 11 is to be secured by rivets (not shown) which pass through thecorresponding extended portion 45 of the beam, preformed rivet holes 46preferably being first drilled through the walls 42, 43 and theintervening portion of the beam. These rivet holes are preferably instaggered relation at each end of the beam and when the rivets areapplied so. as to pass througha bracket'or a jaw of the brake head, thesame will be positioned so as to face in the same direction as that onwhich the tension member of the beam is arranged. When the brake headand cap or shoe are attached by rivets they may be readily removed bycutting away the rivet heads. Also at each end of the beam eachextension 45 if long enough to be guided in a side frame will'extend fora suitable distance beyond the brake head.v

In the modification, Figs. 11 and 12, the socket portion of each wearpiece or cap is provided with a preferably forward nose or lateralextension 41, at the extreme end of the beam, and which may besubstantially rectangular in plan to project at an angle to the lengthof the beam,so as to preferably constitute a leader as well as anextended substantially flat bearing surface transversely of the beam toaid in balancing the beam if that is necessary. Each leading nose 41will therefore be located adjacent the outer side of the correspondingbrake head and will project laterally of each end of the beam,preferably in the same direction as that in which the brake head faces,

where the ends of the beam are to be guided in.

lateral grooves or recesses in the opposite side frames or on lateralledges thereof, the thus transverse widening of the extended ends of thebeam provide more or less enlarged substantially flat wearing surfacesprojecting toward the the arcuate shape of the v adjacent car wheels,and tending to maintain the beam in its desired plane of operation byreducing or substantially eliminating the tendency of the beam to tiltwith respect to its breadth. Thus, the transverse widening if of greaterbreadth than the part of the beam which is laterally inward thereof andclosest to such widening, and the said noses or lateral extensionsprojecting forwardly from the ends of the beam act to over- ,come thetendency of the weight of a live or a dead lever, such as used todirectly control the movement of the beam from a point between the endsof the strut of the beam, to throw the beam out of its desired plane ofoperation, especlally when the beam is of truss type.

From the description and drawings it will become obvious to thoseskilled in the art that other modifications may be made in the inventionwithout departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new is:

1. A metallic brake beam, including a tension member and a compressionmember, the compression member having a substantial longitudinal frontflange thereof extending in a substantially horizontal plane and thetension member having its maximum depth at its middle portion,

, where it is greater than the depth of said longitudinal front flange,and the depth of the ends of the tension member approximating that ofsaid flange, the beam having end portions extended beyond saidlongitudinal flange and the ends of member for a distance somewhatgreater than the width of each brake head to be ultimately positioned onthe end portion.

2. A metallic brake beam, including a tension member and a compressionmember of substantially T-shape in cross section, two flanges thereoflying substantially in a vertical plane to dispose the third flange in ahorizontal plane, and the tension member being twisted and having itsmaximum depth, at its midlength, approximately the depth of said twovertical flanges, the beam having end portions extended beyond saidthird flange and the ends of the tension member, and said end portionshaving substantially a given thickness and flat and parallel upper andlower surfaces substantially throughout, which in the same manner arecontinued inwardly along the ends of the tension member for distances upto the points of twisting the tension member, each such distancesubstantially greater than the width of each brake head to be ultimatelypositioned on the end portion.

3. A metallic brake beam blank of substantially T-shape in crosssection, the stem or leg-portion of the T having a narrow groovelongitudinal thereof, and the groove terminating at a distance from eachend of the blank to leave plain terminal portions on the blank, and thegroove defining the line of separation between the ultimate compressionand tension members of the beam along a line substantially bisectingsuch terminal portions.

4. A metallic brake beam blank of substantially T-shape in crosssection, the stem or leg-portion of the 1' having a narrow groovelongitudinal thereof, and located approximately midway of the breadth ofsuch portion, and groove indicating the line of ultimate cut to be madethrough said stem.

5. A brake beam formed from a single metallic blank, and including atension member and a lower surfaces disposed in continuous parallel 10planes substantially throughout.

6. A metallic brake beam, formed from a single blank, and including atension member and a compression member integrally united atcorresponding terminals, the compression member having a substantiallongitudinal portion thereof extending in a substantially horizontalplane and the tension member having its maximum depth greater than thedepth of said longitudinal portion, and the depth of the ends ofthe'tension member approximating that of said portion and lying in frontof and in the same plane as said portion, the beam having end portionsextended beyond said longitudinal portion and the ends of the tensionmember so as to provide the means for uniting said terminals integrally,and said end portions having the depth of thickness of said longitudinalportion and flat and parallel upper and lower surfaces substantiallythroughout, which in the same manner are continued inwardly along eachend of the tension member for a distance somewhat greater than, thewidth of each brake head to be ultimately positioned on the end portion.

7. A metallic brake beam, formed from a single 85 blank, and including atension member and a compression member integrally united atcorresponding terminals, the compression member of substantially T-shapein cross section, two flanges thereof lying substantially in a verticalplane to dispose the'third flange in a horizontal plane and thetensionmember being twisted and having its maximum depth, at its midlength,approximately the depth of said two flanges, the beam having endportions extended beyond said third flange and the ends of the tensionmember so as to provide the means for integrally uniting said terminals,and said end portions having the depth of thickness of the third flangeand flat and parallel upper and lower surfaces substantially throughout,which in the same manner are continued inwardly along the ends of thetension member for distances up to the points of twisting the tensionmember, each such distance substantially greater than the width of 55each brake head to be ultimately positioned on the end portion.

8. A brake beam formed from a single metallic blank, and including atension member and a compression member integrally united atcorresponding terminals, the tension member having its maximum depth, atits midlength, approximately the depth of the compression member, theunited terminals forming flat terminal portions of the beam, and thedepth of those portions of the tension member which are adjacent to theunited terminals approximating the depth of the united terminals, whichare of less depth uniformly than the compression member, said unitedterminals having flat upper and lower surfaces substantially throughout,and said surfaces extending in the same manner along eachadjacentportion of the tension member for a distance substantiallygreater than the width of a brake head. i

9. A brake beam formed from a single metallic blank, and including atension. member and a compression member integrally united atcorresponding terminals, the tension member being twisted, the unitedterminals forming fiat terminal portions of the beam, and the depth ofthose portions of'the tension member which are adjacent to the unitedterminals approximating the depth of the united terminals, said unitedterminals having flat upper and lower surfaces substantially throughout,and said surfaces ex-' tending in the same manner along each adjacentportion of the tension.member for a distance which falls short of thetwisted portion of the tension member.

10. A metallic brake beam, formed from a single slit blank of T-shape incross section, and including a tension member and a compression member.integrally united at their terminals, the compression member beingformed from a portion of said blank, also of T-shape in cross section,and the tension member formed from another portion of the blankin frontof the leg or stem of the T-shaped portion.

11. A metallic brake beam, formed from a single slit blank of T-shape incross section, and including a tension member and a compression memberintegrally united at their terminals, the compression member beingformed from a portion of said blank, also of T-shape in cross section,and the tension member formed from another portion of the blank in frontof the leg or stem of and in the same plane as the T-shaped portion, andtwisted along its middle portion sov as to be substantially parallel,transversely of its 13. A brake beam, including a beam proper,-

hard metal wear-pieces, each including a portion directly secured to thebeam and a nose portion, the beam adapted to receive brake-heads facingaway therefrom, and said nose portions extending in the same directionas that which the heads are adapted to face.

14. A brake beam, including a beam proper, hard metal wear-pieces, eachincluding a socket portion secured onto the ends of the beam and a noseportion extending laterally at the outer end of the socket-portion, andthe socket portions adapted to receive brake heads.

15. The combination of a railway car brake beam having its direct pointof control located between the front and back of the beam, the

beam adapted to receive brake heads and shoes to be positioned on thefront of the beam, and means extending forwardly from the ends of thebeam, and laterally of said point of control, at points adjacent to thepoints of location for the brake heads, adapted to tend to'eliminate theeffect of the weight of the control device, such as a live lever or adead lever in its tendency to throw the beam out of its plane ofoperation.

16. The combination of a truss brake beam having a compression memberand a tension member and an extended length adapting it to be guided atits extended end portions on car truck side frames, and means extending,in ad- Vance of the ends of the tension member, for-. 'wardly from theextended end portions in the same direction as the brake heads which areto be applied to the end portions at points inwardly of such forwardmeans, and increasing the width of the end portions where the beam is tobe guided, whereby the beam is adapted to be maintained in its plane ofoperation by reducing the tendency of the beam to tilt with respect toits breadth.

17. A cap or shoe for brakebeam ends adapted to be supported by guidesassociated with car truck side frames, said cap being in' the form of abody of metal provided with an opening for receiving the end of a brakebeam, and the cap having a lateral extension projecting toward theadjacent car wheel for aiding in balancing the brake beam.

18. A cap or shoe for brake beam ends adapted to be supported on lateralguides of car truck side frames, said cap being in the form of a body ofmetal provided with an opening for receiving the end of a brake beam,and the outer end of the cap having a lateral extension projectingtoward the adjacent car wheel for aiding in balacing the end of a brakebeam, the inner end portion of the capbeing adapted to support a brakehead, and the outer end portion of the cap being provided with a lateralextension projecting toward the adjacent car wheel for aiding inbalancing the brake beam.

20. A cap or shoe for brake beam ends adapted to be supported on lateralguides of car truck side-frames, said cap being in the form of agenerally rectangular metal body adapted to enclose the end of a brakebeam, the inner end portion of the cap being adapted to support the jawsof a brake-head and being, provided with openings for receiving brakehead fastening means, and the outer end portion of said body beingprovided with a substantially rectangular extension on the side nearestthe adjacent car wheelto aid in balancing the brake beam.

21. The combination with a brake beam the ends of'which are adapted tobe supported by lateral guides of car truck side frames, of a cap orshoe enclosing each end of the beam and provided with substantiallyparallel upper and lower faces, a brake head having substantiallyparallel upper and lower jaws for engaging said faces, and means forsecuring the cap and head together, the outer end portion of the caphaving an integral extension projecting laterally toward the adjacentcar, wheel and having upper and low- .er wearing surfaces.

along the guides, said flat surfaces having atransverse breadthsubstantially greater than that of the parts of the beam laterallyinward of the wear means which are closestto the wear means, to aid inbalancing the beam on the guides and in maintaining it in the plane ofits breadth.

CHARLES R. BUSCH.

